Su Yanxi brought two nurses to the monitoring room and pulled up the patient’s movements.
The mother with lung cancer had discharged herself without permission.
The nurses were shocked and worried. “She’s supposed to have surgery tomorrow. Why would she discharge herself all of a sudden? What’s going to happen to her illness? If she doesn’t have surgery, she’ll be dead within a year!”
“And if she dies, what will happen to her newborn baby? The poor child has just been born and already has no parents.”
Su Yanxi’s expression remained calm. “Which doctor is responsible for her?”
“She’s Doctor Jiang Jianian’s patient. Before he left work, Doctor Jiang said he was going to operate on her tomorrow.”
Su Yanxi immediately called Jiang Jianian.
The man on the other end could barely hide his excitement. “Doctor Su, calling me this late?”
“I need to talk to you about work.”
“Oh.” The excitement in Jiang Jianian’s voice vanished.
“You have a patient named Zhao Yun. She discharged herself without permission.”
“What!” Jiang Jianian’s voice rose. “Her condition is very serious, but it’s treatable. If we operate in time and remove a lobe of her lung, we can save her life. If we let it progress and keep putting it off, she’ll die for sure. We’re supposed to operate tomorrow—why is she running off now?”
One of the nurses called Zhao Yun to ask why. After hanging up, she told Su Yanxi, “The patient doesn’t want treatment anymore. She says she can’t afford it.”
Jiang Jianian said, “Once a patient has been gone for more than two hours after discharging herself without permission, she’s considered to have left the hospital voluntarily. That’s her personal decision. It has nothing to do with me as her attending physician or with the hospital. Neither the hospital nor I are liable. There are too many people who can’t afford treatment. We’re doctors, not bodhisattvas. If she doesn’t want treatment, then that’s that.”
The nurse sighed heavily. “What a poor mother. And that newborn baby, too. But the patient’s already gone. Everyone has their own fate. Doctor Su, let’s go back.”
Medical staff had to support themselves and their families on their salaries. It cost money to eat, to buy clothes, to take the bus—even a sip of water cost money. If they spent all their wages helping patients, they wouldn’t be able to make ends meet themselves.
In this world, everyone had their own hidden darkness and their own light.
Su Yanxi returned to the office with the nurses.
Sitting down at the computer, she opened Zhao Yun’s medical records. Her mouse moved from one test report to the next as a vivid, three-dimensional image of the patient’s condition took shape in her mind.
Zhao Yun’s condition was exactly as Jiang Jianian had said. She was in the window for surgery: if they operated in time, she could recover; if they delayed, she would die.
At that moment, in a dark, damp basement, a woman with cancer held her newborn and wept quietly.
Though weak and malnourished herself, Zhao Yun had taken good care of the baby. The child was clean, chubby, and rosy-cheeked. Swallowing her grief and stifling her sobs, she held the baby gently and soothed it, spending what little money she had left on formula.
Her phone rang. A warm, steady female voice came through. “Hello, Zhao Yun. I’m Su Yanxi, a thoracic surgeon at Jingbei Union Hospital.”
Holding the baby in one arm, Zhao Yun wiped her swollen eyes with the other. “Doctor, someone from your hospital already called me. I’ve decided not to get treatment.”
“Jingbei Union Hospital and the Sunflower Charity Foundation work together on an assistance program for families in need. I’m the foundation’s chairwoman. I can help you apply for assistance with the cost of surgery.”
A warm ray of light entered Zhao Yun’s dark, cold life. For the rest of her days, that light would become the brightest sun in her world.
The night passed. When her shift ended, Su Yanxi finished handing over her duties to the other doctors and headed for the hospital entrance.
As she stepped onto the street outside, a sleek sports car came racing toward her like a gust of wind and pulled to a stop directly in front of her.
It was a beautiful car, its body sleek as flowing water and gleaming so brightly that it was obviously very expensive.
The Bugatti Voice of the Night.
Su Yanxi knew the car well. She had sat in the passenger seat countless times.
The door opened, and a tall, lean man stepped out. His face was so handsome it could catch everyone’s eye at a glance.
His tousled, layered hairstyle gave him a touch of rakish charm. A tiny mole marked the outer corner of his right eye, and his lips were naturally red and full. His whole presence was like a red mandrake blooming in the dead of night—dangerous, bewitching, irresistible.
Even in a black suit, he still looked rakish and roguish.
Su Yanxi heard a young woman passing by gasp. “Oh my god, he’s so handsome! He looks just like the man of my dreams. I want to keep him all to myself and have my wicked way with him.”
In the five short steps Gu Yanze took toward Su Yanxi, three young women blushed and asked for his phone number.
He gave each of them one: 110.
Su Yanxi stood quietly to one side, studying Gu Yanze.
The handsome, refined boy he had once been had grown into an elegant young gentleman. His hair was as dark as ink, his brows sharply defined, and a faint, careless smile played on his lips.
He was twenty-nine. At a young age, he had founded Yuexibao, the largest e-commerce platform in the country.
Its sales on Singles’ Day alone had reached 1,138.5 billion yuan.
For three consecutive years, he had ranked among the top five on Forbes’ Huaguo Rich List and been named one of the country’s ten Outstanding Young People.
Su Yanxi had always thought she knew him well. But looking at him now felt like gazing at a moon hanging in the night sky on a rainy day, blurred behind a thin veil of mist, distant and indistinct.
Gu Yanze came to stand beside her. “Yanyan, I know how hard night shifts are. I came to take you home.”
“I was working at the company until three in the morning yesterday and only slept for three hours. I was up at six today, then drove for an hour all the way to that old shop in the south of the city to buy your favorite saury wontons.”
A cold wind swept past, and Su Yanxi shivered.
His suit jacket, still warm from his body, settled over her shoulders, shielding her from the cold.
Gu Yanze gently put an arm around her shoulders. “Get in the car before you catch a cold.”
He still cared for her and doted on her, just as he always had.
As if he hadn’t been the one to suggest an open marriage the night before, where they could each do as they pleased.
Then again, he had always treated her like a little sister. Who would want to marry his own little sister?
Gu Yanze was just the same as ever. Su Yanxi could no longer be.
“Big Brother…”
She used to call him Big Brother affectionately. The words had been light as a feather, carrying no weight at all. But now she could no longer bring herself to say them.
“Big Brother Yanze, don’t come to pick me up anymore,” Su Yanxi said, doing her best to keep her voice calm.
“I can buy my own wontons. If I don’t want to drive, I can take a taxi. You don’t need to go out of your way for me.”
Don’t be so good to me anymore. I’ll grow dependent on you. I’ll keep hoping, against all reason, that one day you might love me.
I’m afraid I’ll never have you—and afraid I’ll never be able to forget you.
Gu Yanze frowned slightly and looked at her. “Yanyan, I’ve never thought anything I do for you is a bother. These are little things. What’s there to make a fuss about? I’m happy to do them for you.”
He didn’t understand her heart.
He pretended not to understand her heart.
His care was real, his affection was real—but it was only a Big Brother’s love for his little sister.
Su Yanxi’s phone rang. It was Old Master Gu, Gu Nanchu.
“Yanyan, are you off work? Grandpa’s been waiting to have breakfast with you. I had Auntie Wang make a whole table of your favorite dishes. My girl works too hard; she needs a good feed. We’re having a full banquet first thing in the morning!”
“Come home with your Big Brother. Grandpa’s waiting for you both so we can eat together.”
Su Yanxi and Gu Yanze returned to the Gu Family Old Residence.
Old Master Gu was already starving, but he had kept waiting for Su Yanxi so they could eat breakfast together.
When he could no longer stand it, he had a White Rabbit candy to tide him over.
He’d said he would eat only one, but a whole pile of wrappers had accumulated on the table, stacked like a little mountain.
The front door opened, and Su Yanxi and Gu Yanze walked in.
Master hurriedly swept the wrappers into the trash can and wiped his mouth, pretending he hadn’t eaten any.
If you ignored the candy coating stuck around his mouth…
“Grandpa, did you sneak candy again?”
Just then, Auntie Wang came over carrying a dish.
Master: “I didn’t sneak any candy. Auntie Wang ate it all.”
Auntie Wang dutifully took the blame. “That’s right. I ate it all.”
Gu Yanze laughed. “Come on, Grandpa. The candy coating is still on your mouth.”
Old Master Gu: “…………”
“Grandpa, your blood sugar is high. You can’t eat too much candy.” Su Yanxi held out her hand toward Master. “Hand over the rest.”
Looking down, Master took three candies from his pocket. “Don’t scold me. I know I was wrong. Here, you can have them all. There aren’t any more.”
While Old Master Gu had turned to speak to Su Yanxi, Gu Yanze reached into his pocket and pulled out a whole handful of White Rabbit candies.
“Shameless, Grandpa. You’re this old and still lying? Aren’t you embarrassed?”
Old Master Gu’s face reddened.
“All right, all right. I swear I’ll never sneak candy again. If I do, I’ll…”
Swear again.
Auntie Wang filled the table with dishes. Old Master Gu smiled and beckoned to Su Yanxi. “Yanyan, sit beside Grandpa.”
When Gu Nanchu saw Gu Yanze, the kindly smile vanished from his face in an instant. He drew a breath deep into his belly and let out a cold, emphatic “Hmph!”
The night before last, he had told Gu Yanze to marry Su Yanxi. Gu Yanze had said he only saw her as a little sister. Old Master Gu had been furious, and two days later he still hadn’t cooled down.
Gu Yanze sat on Gu Nanchu’s other side. Gu Nanchu glanced at him. “Get lost! Stay away from me, you brat. Just looking at you irritates me!”
“All right, all right. I’ll keep my distance from Your Majesty the Supreme Emperor.” Gu Yanze took his bowl and sat in the farthest corner.
During the meal, Gu Nanchu kept piling food onto Su Yanxi’s plate with the serving chopsticks. “Yanyan, eat more. Look how thin you are—you’re as skinny as a chopstick. Grandpa’s worried a strong wind will blow you away.”
“Grandpa, that’s an exaggeration. Yanze is a lot thicker than a chopstick.”
“You little brat! Did I ask you to speak? Shut up! I don’t want to hear a word from you!”
Turning back to Su Yanxi, Gu Nanchu’s face softened again. “I only listen to Yanyan.”
Gu Yanze rolled his eyes, once again wondering if he was some freebie the old man had gotten when he bought laundry detergent.
After breakfast, Gu Nanchu brought up something else. “Old Man Fu’s eldest grandson wiped out a major drug-trafficking gang in Yuncheng and earned himself a First-Class Merit for coming back alive. What an impressive young man!”
He glanced at Gu Yanze, his eyes openly full of disdain.
“Comparisons are odious. And when it comes to cake, nothing beats cheesecake. Other people’s grandsons are just better!”
Gu Yanze handed Gu Nanchu the tea he had just brewed. “Yes, yes, yes. Your Majesty the Supreme Emperor is always right. You’ve been scolding me for the whole meal. Is your throat sore? Have some tea to soothe it.”
Gu Nanchu gave another low, icy “Hmph!”
Then he turned to Su Yanxi, his eyes brimming with affection. He smiled warmly, kind wrinkles creasing his face.
“In a week, the Fu family will hold a celebration banquet for Fu Linchen. Yanyan, come with Grandpa.”